You don't have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic. Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.
Then Representative, Lindsey Graham speaking in 1998 about the impending impeachment of President, Bill Clinton.
Obviously, Senator Graham's view on the issue has, let us say, evolved. As has Mitch McConnell's. In 1999 he had this to say about Bill Clinton's upcoming trial in the Senate, "So what will we do this day? Will we rise above, or sink below? Will we condone this President's conduct, or will we condemn it? Will we change our standards, or will we change our President?"
On December 19th, 1998 the house voted to impeach Wild Bill on one count of perjury 228-206. It also voted 221-212 to charge him with one count of obstruction of justice. Two other counts, a second perjury charge and one accusing him of abuse of power were defeated.
The whole affair had been delayed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich until after that year's mid term elections. Polls conducted privately at his behest convinced him that by dragging out the scandal, which was playing daily in the national news, the GOP majority in the house would increase dramatically. In fact, prior to November he was telling fellow republicans the party could gain up to 30 new seats. He was misinformed. Although republicans retained control of the house, their numerical advantage over the democrats actually shrank by five members.
The miscalculation was so staggering, Gingrich, who had pushed hard for impeachment, became the first casualty of it. He resigned from congress in abject shame on January 3, 1999, over a month before the Senate would decide the fate of William Jefferson Clinton.
The trial itself was presided over by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Rehnquist. No matter what Donald Trump tweets these days, that is the only involvement the Supreme Court has during the entire impeachment process. If the Big Orange Guy would actually read the constitution he swore to defend he'd realize the highest court in the land has absolutely no power to stop the House from impeaching a President, or even delay them from doing so.
Then as now, it takes 67 votes in the Senate to convict and remove a sitting President. In February, 1999 it wasn't even close. On the perjury charge the Senate voted 55 against--45 for. On obstruction the upper chamber split evenly, 50-50.
During the impeachment and trial, presumably to the horror of Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, Clinton's job approval rating soared to nearly 70%. By the time he left office in January 2001 it was still at 60%.
All of which leads us to the question of what do we do with Donald John Trump?
Robert Mueller, for whatever his reasons, punted the issue of obstruction of justice to the House of Representatives. While doing so he enumerated a number of instances where obstruction, or at the very least, attempts to obstruct were perpetrated by El Donald.
The democratic firebrands in the house and a growing number of party presidential candidates are howling for his impeachment. The most notable exception to their number is the current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
There are a couple of explanations for this reluctance on the Speaker's part. Number one, the 2020 election is not that far off. Number two, she was around when the GOP went off their nut, impeached Bill Clinton, and failed miserably to remove him from office. She also saw what happened in the aftermath of their failure. The President's job approval rating went through the roof--the last thing any of us need a year and a half before this current resident of the White House runs for re-election.
And that danger is real, because just like in Clinton's case there is absolutely no way the Senate will convict Donald Trump. Getting 67 votes to remove a sitting President is for all practical purposes impossible. Let's face it, if republicans couldn't get rid of Andrew Johnson in 1868 when they had overwhelming majorities in both houses, democrats won't be able run Trump out of office in 2019 when they control only one.
No, it is time for candidates to campaign against the fucker's terrible legacy of lies, outright incompetence and, yes obstruction. The last thing we need to do is allow him to add impeachment to the list of wrongs he will claim he has so grievously suffered at the hands of radical left democrats and socialists. Not to mention giving him a chance to serve up another heavy dose of, not only did they fail, but the Senate completely exonerated Me, proving Me innocent of Everything which we all know he will.
Donald Trump is a crook. Everyone with a working brain knows that. Hell, even his kids know it. However the terrible truth is, for now anyway, House democrats should let him get away with his crimes. For the nation's sake, they need to swallow their righteous and understandable indignation then trust, We The People to convict him at the ballot box next year.
At that time, if voters don't--after witnessing this vile insanity first hand--America deserves the son of a bitch.
sic vita est
4-24-19
I believe Trump would view an impeachment attempt as good publicity, although he would vehemently deny it. He would become a martyr to his army of devoted supporters. You know, it may be time to try a new tactic . . . congressional leadership and the media, inasmuch as possible, just ignore his bluster and stick to addressing the business of the presidency with minimal commentary. That would frustrate this president as much as anything they could do.
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